Chasing waterfalls in the Canadian Rockies

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We abandoned our annual overseas travel adventure, due to the pandemic, to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary locally. We embarked on a ten-day drive through the Rocky Mountains to Banff and Jasper, a trip we had taken 25 years ago with our 3 young children at the time, en route to Drumheller, but now undertaken by ourselves. two.

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September 14
We rely on our trusted SatNav to guide us to our first port of call; Grace’s Bed and Breakfast in Sorrento, and we were surprised when we were informed, “You have reached your destination”, as at that time, there was nothing but bushes along the road.

It turned out that the B&B was 100 meters from the road from where our SatNav said, and accessed by a small dirt track.

The accommodation was beautiful and our hosts charming. And we had the whole place to ourselves.

September 15
During breakfast our hosts gave us some tips on places we might want to stop on the way to Golden through Revelstoke. One recommendation was Margaret Falls, about 15 minutes from Sorrento. It is a short hike to a lovely little waterfall. Returning along the same path, we crossed the road and entered the Shuswap Lake beach area. A short walk along the beach and its campgrounds and we were back on the road to Revelstoke.

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Here we stop for our main hike of the day to the top of the mountain in Mount Revelstoke National Park. It reaches the top at 6,360 feet, but don’t worry, you can drive close to the top and hike the last mile to take in the spectacular views. Between the many sunny breaks we saw some precipitation in the form of snow so please dress accordingly!

After our trek, we continue to Golden, spending the night at another charming B&B, the Tschurtschenthaler Lodge.

16 of September
We sought advice from our host on places to stop on the way to Lake Louise. She suggested three points of interest, starting with a visit to Wapta Falls. It’s about a 2.5km hike to see the falls, but it’s worth the hike.

From there we continue to Emerald Lake and enjoy walking the 5 km loop around the lake. Then to our last stop of the day, Takakkaw Falls, a truly spectacular setting.

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The trip to Lake Louise completed another spectacular day of scenery.

September 17
The Lake Louise area offers two main lakes: Moraine Lake and its surroundings, and Lake Louise itself. The car parks on both lakes (Lake Louise in particular) fill up very early, a better alternative is to take the shuttle which can be ordered online.

We first visited Moraine Lake and were rewarded after a short hike up the Rockpile trail with some amazing views. We then head back to Moraine Lake for a walk on the lake trail, which offers beautiful scenery and is definitely worth doing.

We then board the shuttle for the 15 minute ride to Lake Louise and visit the Fairmont for lunch at their cafe.

We then went for a walk along the Lake Louise shore path, which goes to the other end of the lake and back, about 4 km in total. Looking back from the other end of the lake offers a great view of Château Fairmont. and the surrounding mountains and views are fabulous.

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After that, I went back to the hostel to have dinner and celebrate my birthday.

September 18
We traveled to Banff, stopping at Johnson Canyon. This is a very popular stop and foot traffic is high, but it is worth the effort.

Here are two falls; the lower falls are about 1.2 km and there is a small tunnel at the observation point that you can pass through to see the falls more closely. This tends to get very busy and you may have to wait your turn. We chose to skip this and still got a good view of the falls without having to enter the tunnel.

A further mile up the trail is the upper falls, which were less crowded and worth the extra hike.

After visiting the falls, we continued to Banff and checked into the Moosehead Hotel. We had dinner at the Radiant – good food and were treated to a jazz-based performance by Allison Lynch, accompanied by Mark Limacher on keyboard.

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September 19th
We made the short trip to Canmore to visit one of my wife’s cousins ​​and his wife. They took us on a nice hike close to where they live, which provided a beautiful waterfall and little lake at the top of the trail.

From there we made our way to the Banff Gondola, which took us up Sulfur Mountain for some amazing views of the Bow Valley.

There is a restaurant at the top, but reservations are recommended, and also a cafeteria that is more on a first-come, first-served basis, but fills up very quickly. We chose the third food option; a small shop where you can buy sandwiches and snacks to go.

September 20
The road between Banff and Jasper offers endless beautiful views and we stopped at many of the viewing areas before reaching the Columbia Icefield.

We bought a pass to the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, a platform where you can walk on the glass base and watch the drop down into the canyon below, and also take in the magnificent scenery.

After we finished our Skywalk and were taken back to the parking lot, we headed to the other side of the road where you can walk to the foot of the Icefield. What we found most interesting, and at the same time disturbing, were the various markers that were placed on the route that showed where the ice arrived at various points in time dating back almost 100 years. The shortening of the ice field in just the last 20 to 30 years is dramatic.

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When we existed in the ice field and started our journey to Jasper, we came across a mountain goat on the side of the road, which was our first wildlife sighting of any note – a very handsome guy.

September 21st
For our full day in the Jasper area, we chose to visit Maligne Lake, for canoeing. Just before reaching Maligne, we noticed that some cars stopped ahead, which is usually a sign of wildlife. Sure enough, they gave us a moose grazing on the side of the road.

The weather at the lake was a bit windy, so we hiked to nearby Moose Lake (about 2km) in the hope that the winds would die down to allow us to take a canoe. When we got back to the charter boat it was still rough, but a little calmer, so we ventured out. Fortunately, the wind and the flow of the lake were against us when we left, so when we turned around to go back, we were practically carried back to shore.

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September 22
This day was a long day of driving as we drove home, with an overnight stop in Clearwater.

Just outside of Clearwater, we turned off towards Spahat Falls, which was a big detour and a fairly short hike to the falls.

Once in Clearwater, our B&B host recommended the Hog N Hop Tap and Smokehouse for dinner. Tip: eat a light lunch if you plan on going as the portions are huge. However, an exceptional recommendation.

September 23
Once through Kamloops, instead of taking the usual route home along Coquihalla, we took the longer but spectacular cross-country route (using Hwy-1 and Hwy-99) and spent the night in Whistler.

We found a great place to stop for our picnic lunch on the outskirts of Lillooet overlooking a beautiful lake, and then we continued to Lake Joffre, where we made a quick stop to see the lower lake.

24th September
Our last stop was Whistler, and we took a brisk walk around Lost Lake to stretch our legs in the morning and then continued to the Whistler Train Wreck Trail, which is located just outside of Whistler near Function Junction.

The trail follows the Sea To Sky Trail and crosses a suspension bridge, offering panoramic views of the Cheakakmus River, before reaching the colorfully painted box cars.